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Chaz Meredith
Early Life Charlie, as his father called him, was born in Georgetown, South Carolina, in 1924. He lived as most other kids did, playing baseball, listening to the radio, hunting with his father, participating in Boy Scouts, and attending a proper Baptist church. It was idyllic, but when the market crashed in 1929, certain changes had to be made. His father, like most veterans of the first World War, knew of the Ballistic Knights, and the havoc they'd wrought on the Germans. During his tour, he'd come to know one of them, and had learned that they were willing to test anyone who came to their doors. Armed with that knowledge, and with the last of the Meredith family savings, Chuck Meredith packed his wife and son up, and hopped a train into Dodge city. Becoming a Knight Showing Up Charlie was terrified beyond all measure when he arrived, alone and unsure, at the gates to the Camelot estate that sat on Lake Custer. Even at seven in the morning, he could hear a slow, but steady echo of gunfire, and saw boys and girls running across paths in the grounds in a tidy rank and file. He'd been prepared, of course, by his father. Told that these people were the good guys, that they helped folks out, but it was still near too much to bear. Charlie was about to walk away when an elderly gentlemen, led by a big German Shepherd, approached the fence. "Scared, young man?" The old man asked, clearly blind, as he wiped his hands on his jeans. "Yessir," Charlie answered hesitantly, unable to really finish his thought. "Don't be, my dog don't bite. C'mon in." The old man said, and opened the gate for the boy with naught but a wave of his hand. Meeting the Knights The rest of the day was a whirlwind to the boy. He'd never seen so many people gathered in one place outside of the occasional town meeting. Men and women both carrying guns like the cowboys in the pictures, and not just humans, but Eldren, Dwarves, and Beastmen too. Everyone was respectful at the least, most were downright nice to him, but still... It wasn't until the old man brought him onto what he called the Parade Grounds (which was silly, it wasn't anywhere near big enough to have a decent parade on) when Charlie finally felt at ease. There weren't so many people, and even if it looked like they were waiting on him, they all seemed so peaceful and calm. "These people," the old man said, gesturing to the people gathered there "are all Knights. Incidentally, they're also all lacking squires or so I'm told. Remember son, you got no reason to be afraid of them, they ain't been nothing but nice to me." The old man left Charlie then, walking along with his dog like he knew every inch of the place. He'd heard people refer to the man as the gardener, so it made sense. "We've sworn an oath to uphold all decent laws, protect innocent people, bring the wicked to justice, show respect and courtesy to all people, and set that example for others." one of the Knights said, her accent sounding like funny French. "You willing to do the same?" "Yes ma'am." Charlie said with a nervous gulp. "We'll see." Another one said, this one some kind of Boar beastman. The Trials For the rest of the day, and well into the next, these people tested the boy on a great number of things, and not just cowboy stuff. It was like school all over again, asking him questions about arithmetic, science, and literature. There WAS a shooting portion though, which Charlie did ok on, on account of going hunting with his dad, but the Knights seemed less interested in that than the rest. The really strange tests were like they were picking on him. One would ask him to do something, but then the rest would set on him, telling him he wasn't allowed to do it. Charlie was confused as hell, but kept on his tasks, just like his mother had taught him. The critical part came when he was taken to lunch. They all ate in a big cafeteria like you'd expect they do in the Army, but there were all sorts of people bringing out food and drinks, most of them Chinese. Having never met one, Charlie was in awe. What broke him out of his trance was when one of the other young kids, a few years older, stuck his foot out and tripped one of the help staff, making him spill empty trays on the floor. "That wadn't very nice!" Charlie scolded, feeling like his mother. "Say you're sorry!" "Or what?" the other boy asked, coming out of his seat. "You gonna whip me?" Steeling himself to be thrown out, or worse, Charlie only clenched his fists, set his jaw and nodded. He was surprised to see the other boy immediately stoop down to help the Chinese man. "Duìbùqǐ Mr. Ping, the knight said you knew about this. Ràng wǒ lái bāng nǐ." The Chinese man only smiled, turned, and nodded towards the Knights in the doorway. Apparently, they weren't quite as done with him as he would have hoped. Being selected There were other kids besides Chaz (The gardener had taken to calling him Chaz, on account of used to knowing someone else so named) of course, but most were kindly turned away, being told they didn't make some kind of cut. In the end, it was him, and four other kids. After a week of more testing, most of which was done secretly, and the rest was downright frustrating, the kids were brought before the Knights. They'd apparently come to some agreement, as four Knights stepped forward. The French lady (which Chaz had learned was actually Creole Eldren) picked the only girl, which seemed pretty fitting. The Boar Beastman selected a Halfling boy who'd hitched on a train all the way from Chicago to get there. Another Eldren, who, if rumors were true, was one of the Casslewoode Eldren, picked the boy that was actually born in Dodge City. That left Chaz, feeling like the fat kid in dodgeball, who was approached by the last Knight. Offhandedly, Chaz wondered if maybe the Knight felt like the fat kid in dodgeball too. "The old man calls you Chaz. Does this bother you?" The guy asked with a Kentucky drawl. "No sir." Chaz said, shaking his head emphatically. "Alright then. I'm David Vance. Sir David when it's formal, Sir Dave when it ain't, and just Dave in private. I sit fifth chair at the round table, and walk the Hunter's path. I'm honored to teach you Ballistic Thaumaturgy, the kind of stuff they usually only let the Army use. Also, a whole mess of other hopefully useful skills that'll serve you well in life." Living the Life It's only hazing because they care Full training to become a Ballistic Knight wasn't what Chaz expected, or what his dad had tried his best to prepare him for. He only got to shoot guns for an hour a day most days, and his ride time was about as long. Mostly, it was cleaning his gun (a Bossman Hopalong) or tending to his horse, and a whole lot of going to school. Arithmetic, Science, Thaumaturgy, Literature, a pile of Philosophy, languages, History, and Reading. It meant little, but according to one of his teacher's lectures, the students would have a high school diploma by the age of fifteen. Then there was stuff about the Knights, their own history, organization, a lot of things. When it wasn't school, or cleaning stuff, he was helping Sir Dave with a lot of things, mostly organizational, but just as much boot polishing and room tidying. He'd made the mistake of mentioning the house had servants for such jobs... ONCE. That earned him a three hour lecture, during which he would be jogging while Sir Dave rode behind him on a horse, about how they didn't have servants, they had support staff, and how most of the maids made more money per paycheck than even the Knights of the Round earned. The Good Stuff At around the age of ten, Chaz finally got into the really good stuff. Gunsmithing, advanced artifice Thaumaturgy, battlefield tactics, driving automobiles (tricky, but doable), and a LOT more shooting. Enough, actually, that he had grown sick of it, and equally sick of the bruised shoulder and wrist he was getting from firing off a hundred 12 gauge shells and another hundred .45 a day. There was even some training in stealth from a Lakota man from the nearby reservation, and those days were a lot of fun. They played something like Capture the Flag, but if you were spotted, you were out. The First Hunt A few weeks after his twelfth birthday, Sir Dave came to Chaz about going on a hunt with him, and to pack his shotgun. Excited to get away from the compound for any reason, Chaz eagerly agreed. It wasn't until he and Dave walked into Celestial Alley in Dodge when Chaz finally questioned his Knight's motivation. "I never said we were hunting Deer. There's a guy hiding out in here, probably paying the Tongs for protection. We got to flush him out." "Is this what it is we do?" Chaz asked. "Ideally, no." is all Sir Dave said, when Chaz got his first taste of being shot at. Category:Under Construction Category:PC